Depths of a Teenager: Delay
by Schick Merchandise
Summary: SEQUEL ADDED! "So let me get this straight, say now you loved me all along? I remember so long ago, see I felt that same way."
1. Depths of a Teenager: First Part

**Author's Notes: **This fic isn't about your typical Sakura Kinomoto who always had her fruitful family background and average happy lifestyle. Things are different here, that is why it is a fic. In this, she has a different side, a different story.

**Depths of a Teenager**

**By: Tammy Super Girl**

Although she was already nineteen years old, Sakura Kinomoto isn't as mature as everyone expected her to be. She used to think she was strong because she always manages to solve her problems and she ends up with a smiling face. Her friends thought she was the strongest among them, but little did everyone know that her dilemmas before were nothing compared to what she is going through now.

She fell in love with a boy who was always in love with her the moment he saw her. It took him four years waiting for her. She loved him with all her heart no matter what the others said. Everyone was breaking them off just because the guy has a shitty rich family who cares about no one else but themselves. They were the main people who were forcing them to separate…just because they want to acquire the bastard the guy had produced with his gold-digging ex-girlfriend. His family thinks that Sakura was a hindrance into getting what they want even if the guy had already abandoned the bastard.

Sakura's friends were temporary. The so called 'BFF' Best Friends Forever lasted for only six years. And the recent year was the last among the six. No one else supported her. They all forced upon her what they want to happen; what they want her to do. They never gave a single thought to what would make her heart rejoice. They acted as friends as what they know how. Even so, she never felt any sincere support coming from them. Everyone is selfish, even our leading lady. After falling into anxiety, she deleted her Facebook, her online Instant Messengers, and coldly left them. No one needed her anyways.

She never felt any companionship coming from her family; even so, she was once a high spirited teenager. She focused all her attention and affection towards her friends. Friendship, to her, was everything. Her friends were all she had ever since she was three. Now that everyone is gone, she fell into deeper anxiety.

Her College life was drifting. Due to her miseries, she can't concentrate and the consequence for her was flunking out of the University. When her mother found out about this, she got extremely furious and bullied her with harsh words. She stopped giving her money and she was forced to stop going to school at all.

She had no other choice but to stay in her room and sleep if the Sandman allows her. She forbade her boyfriend to visit her because she doesn't want him to be dragged down with her. He already has problems of his own. He has to deal with his shit family and he shouldn't carry any more of her load. Above all, he was on top of her anxiety sources. There was nothing her boyfriend did but to send her text messages begging her to respond.

She isn't as strong as a person should when it comes to miseries like these. She thought that all of these reasons are valid enough to commit suicide.

People around her came to know about this pathetic little plan. They somehow tried to talk her out of it but she was a closed door. She felt nothing but deep darkness and all exerting effort towards anything is a waste of time. Going out and meeting new people used to be her bread and butter but it has now become a futile hobby. She believed everything is temporary so she felt no hope upon anything that resolved into deciding that planning fresh goals are inadequate.

Sakura lied on her bed and blankly stared at her ceiling. The walls around her just felt like getting smaller. Even so, there is one thing she still wants...and it's been bugging her in her dreams lately.

* * *

"She wants to be with you…" A guy Sakura used to call a close friend mentioned outside of the University gates. "…Syaoran Li."

"Huh?" Syaoran, a tall dark brown haired boy was taken aback. "Why me?" He is not your typical confident rich kid. Everybody liked him because he was downright nice and humble. He is ultimately shy around women and he acts as if he doesn't know that he is extremely good looking. Almost every girl admires him. Girls don't chase him, they court him.

"Apparently, it's you she wants." The guy plainly reasoned. "Even so, she told me not to tell you. She said she doesn't want you to feel obliged about her about anything. She said it's just a wish she never really forced her self to acquire." The guy scowled a bit. "She really doesn't want you to do it, but I'm telling you to do it. Sakura was there for me when I was the one pathetic and I think it's only fair if I tell you what her dream is. Don't get too pressured though. It isn't your fault if you don't want to."

"S-Sakura's a very pretty girl. Loads of guys around her c-can...c-can be with her… Not me." Syaoran was stuttering. He was very much flattered but it is just not his thing. Women are not his thing. "Besides, she already has a boyfriend and I am sort of close friends with the guy, wouldn't that be rude?"

"It's okay." The guy patted his shoulder and left.

* * *

Sakura's nameless boyfriend finally gave up on pulling her out of her bed. She thinks he finally moved on with his own shit life.

Sakura, one night, jumped to her feet and dressed up in her favorite black off shoulder cocktail dress. After weeks of moping, she's finally going out tonight. She was invited to this ball and she thinks it's fine to have one dashing night out before hitting off to her deathbed. She felt a little better knowing that Syaoran would be there as well. It's going to be nice to see him one last time.

She arrived at the ball alone. No one was there to accompany her and she didn't ask anyone to. She put up a healthy smile and walked up to the grand staircase. She thought it was like a fairytale. It's going to be Sakurella night.

The first man she noticed was Syaoran. He was standing by the front double doors when he gave her a nervous smile. She politely smiled back at him. She felt like it is okay to go home now that she saw him.

**To be continued…**


	2. Second Part

**Author's Notes: **First of all, this story is supposed to be a one-shot, but since I lost my inspiration along the way, the first post ended with a 'to be continued'. Secondly, I would like to deeply thank those who said that this story is interesting. So far, none has flamed me like saying that my story is senseless and crap. Soooo… another thanks to that I guess. And to those who said they can't understand the point, I will try my best to make things clearer.

Thank you MirrorSakura for the cheer. Hehehe.

* * *

. - . - . - . - . - . - .

If Sakura knew better, she would have literally stated that her feet froze upon the ground. She has to stay calm, she has to stay cool. She has to bring her self well in front of Syaoran Li.

Her mind began to have battles on its own again. Her boyfriend, she thought; Chikao Yamada. It's just sad, very sad, that she had to fall out of love with him. It was so much enjoyment being with him, she recalled. All the delight, though, came with the same amount of suffering and all the pleasure had to come to an end. There was no official closure between them; but knowing Chikao, she is totally positive that he had let her go. That is just so Chikao, he would just let go of something that he doesn't feel anymore. He doesn't search or think deep; he would just withdraw. And with what was happening to Sakura lately, it was more likely that he had given up on persuading her to be with him as much as she had given up on their inadequate so called love.

Hey cheer up, she said to her self. Syaoran Li is just a very few miles away from her, this is not the time to be moping about her boyfriend or ex-boyfriend, whatever they are right now. She was clearly talking to her self. She forced her self not to think about the sad things anymore. It's her night out; she should look for ways to help her self from her absolute misery. It is the only way to take care of her self; that is if she still has concern left in her.

"Hello!" She can't fake a smile in front of him.

"H-hi!" He grinned nervously.

"Umm…" Her head slightly bowed down when she gaped down to the ground. She really can't fake a smile now, that is because she is truly smiling at the moment and she's trying to hide the blush that came with it.

"So umm… Are you alone?" Syaoran was obviously trying to start a conversation with her.

"…Yeah." She calmly replied. Deep inside, she gave him credit for that. She knows Syaoran isn't courageous when it comes to girls and he had never given effort towards her before. Clearly, this is the first time. There must be something special tonight, she hoped.

"Okay." He said sheepishly. "I'll just try the punch." He was pointing the buffet table inside the big room. As soon as her emerald eyes met his amber ones, he took the eye contact as a response that he can go; so he exited him self. Sakura smiled weakly as she watched his back disappear into the crowd.

It was her turn to enter the party. She was already in the venue but the real ball is inside the big room; thru the front double doors. And she was just there, by the entrance, not even one of her feet had succeeded in going in. She saw her reflection in the glass windows of the front double doors. She has long auburn wavy hair that ends just below her armpits. After sighing a little about it, she walked in and invited her self in one empty table by the corner.

Sakura examined the entire area. The place was beautiful. There were multiple huge windows decorated with navy blue and powder blue curtains. The area was like where Belle and the Beast danced, only differences are that there are tables in white cloths at the sides and the lighting is dimmer. Still, her eyes feasted.

"Hi. I never thought I'd see you here." A guy that is very familiar to her walked in. He has a tall and slightly chubby figure. His hair is colored in light black that paired with Chinese black eyes. He instantly took the empty seat in front of her. Now, there are two people in Sakura's table.

"I never thought I'd come." She lied with a polite smile. She had always wanted to come ever since she found out that Syaoran was coming.

"Yeah?" He flashed his usual sarcastic smirk. "Seen Syaoran?" He plainly asked.

"Yes." She responded calmly. After that, awkward silence enveloped the table. "So, Daitaro," she began, "how are things?" Daitaro Yamashita was once her closest friend. The closeness, she thinks, ended when her 'used-to-be' best friend Seka Nagano began playing Daitaro as a fool. That's what Sakura clearly saw. She warned and warned him about it but he just wouldn't budge; he spurned all her help thus making Sakura feel more rejected. After all those, Sakura saw Daitaro and Seka betraying her in a way that they befriended and supported her boyfriend Chikao's ex-girlfriend. Everything just pissed Sakura off. She was persevering all the time, trying to keep her mind from blowing off until she lost it. Everyone has their own limits.

"Still the same." Daitaro plainly replied.

"Seka is still not your girlfriend, is she?" Sakura asked in disgust.

"Nope." Somehow, she heard sadness in his tone. "But I know she will be mine someday. When we're way older and ready to get married, I'm sure." His voice was gloomy and hoping. Sakura forced her self not to roll her eyes. Sakura, from the beginning of last year, witnessed Daitaro courting her best friend Seka over and over. Seka was nice to him but she continuously rejected him to be her boyfriend yet she uses his money all the while. Seka satisfies her materialism to her heart's content with the use of Daitaro's money. She turned into a skank in Sakura's eyes. When she tries to talk to her about it, she spoke like everything was Daitaro's fault because he insists on spoiling her even if he gets nothing in return. Sakura thought all girls should at least have some pride when it comes to these things. Seka's attitude sickened her to no end. It made her lose all her trust in her, thus finally removed Seka's title as Sakura Kinomoto's best friend.

"Anyways, I'll get my self some food." She excused her self because she doesn't want to talk him anymore. All the bitter past that she tried so hard to forget would once again be dug up if she stays in the table with him. The last thing she wants to happen now is bumping into Seka. If Daitaro's here, she's most likely to be here; wearing a new beautiful expensive dress that Daitaro bought for her and she ends up looking classy thus having her the confidence to flirt with other men. All about her now just pisses Sakura to no end. "Ingrate." She muttered to her self as she thinks about her.

Sakura arrived by the buffet table and saw the leading lady of her recent thoughts. She saw her putting up a pile of sweets on her plate. "Just great." She muttered yet again. She took a deep breath and walked away. She doesn't want to greet her, smile and wave hello like there is nothing wrong.

Seka has this long less wavy black hair just a little below her shoulders. She has medium brown chinky eyes that goes with her pale skin. She has a few zits in her face.

Without looking around much, and that is because she doesn't want anyone like Seka to see her, she ended up in the balcony. "Heh heh." She chuckled bitterly as she steps on the stone ground. "This looks familiar." She smiled bitterly as she invited her self into the beautiful ambiance near the stone railings under the evening starry sky. "Just like in the fairytales." She shook her head at that.

She felt the freedom to frown… so she did. She doesn't want to pretend that she's happy when she really isn't. She frowned and frowned more. No one out there would care if she's sad, let alone no one would get dragged down or be pained if she has a pout on her face. No one who might see her right now would give a damn and make her happy. No one else knows, no one else cares.

"I feel somewhat better now." She told her self. It would be weird if someone heard her, but she's pretty sure no one did. She looked behind her and through the transparent window of the door she just recently used, she was right, no one was there.

**To be continued…**


	3. Third Part

**Author's Notes: **Thank you for the new reviews. I appreciate the little number of reviews I get. They may be few but they're more sensible compared the loads I get in my other stories.

* * *

. - . - . - . - . - . - .

She feels like she suddenly outgrew everything. She is unsure if she really outgrew them or maybe there's just something wrong with her. She doesn't want to go out. She's lazy going to the mall; she's not excited about going anywhere that is supposed to be "fun". She spends her weekends in the house; better, she reckons, if she's alone. She used to be an extrovert but now she feels like she evolved into an introvert.

Sakura's arms were resting on the stone railings and she rested her chin upon her right arm. She scowled a little for having the need to think about her recent manner. After a few seconds, a smile crept to her face. That is because, honestly, she likes it more; because it means less pressure from 'what others think of her'.

Yes, she has changed.

Depression leads you into being an introvert? Sakura asked in hear head. No one else could answer her of course. Before, she always likes to make people know if she's sad so she can tell them her problem. Now, she doesn't want them to even know when she's gloomy. She likes them to think that she's fine so they won't ask her.

She will be all right; she promised her self. A little smile appeared when she thought of 'not having the need to commit suicide'. It's just so pathetic and juvenile to do it. It's very embarrassing; although she wouldn't care by then because she won't be breathing…but still…

And then the sound of the happy chitter-chatter of the people from inside has reached her senses. Sakura felt free to frown again.

"Any teenage girl who goes thru crap will have the need to shun all the stress off of her." She recited in a soft yet deep voice. "She had a huge problem, she needs space." She recited yet again, but this time a slight louder. "She has every right to be selfish." Sakura closed her eyes after that last statement. "Why can't they think of it AS THAT?" She snapped upon her invisible audience. "I bet they think of me as an immature hardheaded little girl who is not worth giving a damn about!" Her temper was beginning to rise again. Usually, Chikao Yamada, her ex-boyfriend, would hold her and pat her back when her blood begins to boil. Too bad, that's all in the past now.

"I know Sakura. She's hardheaded. Let's just leave her be." Sakura declaimed in a squeaky girlish voice. She was imitating Seka Nagano, her former female best friend. "I didn't think Sakura would turn out to be like this. We were always on the phone before, but now she's all weird and overreacting on things that don't exist. What a pain." She narrated by copying Daitaro Yamashita's voice. She was just merely assuming all of these lines. That's what she thinks of what they are saying about her now. Her right hand balled into a fist. Soon, she was holding back her self from crying but the tears escaped ever so annoyingly. She immediately wiped them and hoped no one saw.

She looked around again and hoped no one else was there. Her luck was available, no one was in the balcony but her.

"I don't want to see them." She declared to her self. And so, she decided to just head home before any of the traitors would get the chance to confront her. God knows she doesn't want to talk to them, let alone be close friends with them again. She doesn't feel the sentiment to tell them what's really bothering her or what her problem is with them. Letting them know that has the agenda of her wanting to regain her close ties with them. But she does not, so she will not. She thinks it's best if she just leaves everything out in the cold. Who cares now who's right or who's wrong? Who's immature or who's mature? She is sick of them and they don't care about her, case closed, everyone's apart, everyone's contented and happy. That's how she sees things and she's leaving.

Her right hand fingers made their way to her eyes. She checked one last time if there are no traces of tears on her face. After convincing her self that she doesn't look like she cried, she turned her heel and once again entered the so called 'ball'.

Daitaro and Seka were clearly in her view. She made a long cut around the crowd to avoid them and managed to arrive safely by the entrance front double doors.

"Leaving so soon?" Usually, that type of line would be coming off from someone evil, but this time it's different. The tone was manly with a spark of worry and a tad bit of softness.

"Oh, I didn't see you there." Sakura turned her head to face him. "Sorry, Syaoran."

"It's okay." He grinned, showing off his perfectly straight white teeth. She noticed that he's holding a glass of booze with his right hand.

"So, you've been drinking, huh?" Her tone was very casual.

"Well, ye-" Syaoran was cut off because Sakura pulled him out of the way. She dragged him by his arm all the way towards the back of the fountain that can be seen a few miles away from the double doors. They ended up crouching as they hid. "W-what? W-why?" He was taken aback.

"I umm… I…" She didn't know what to say. The reason why she pulled and dragged him is because she saw her former close friends stepping out thru the double doors. Sakura placed her fingers upon the edge of the marble fountain and peaked over it. She saw Daitaro and Seka walking over to the parking area. "I was just umm…" She remembered she owes the man an explanation.

Syaoran stood straight and smiled. "You were avoiding them, weren't you?" He didn't sound like he was accusing her, his tone was gentle.

She now stands properly in front of him. "H-how'd you know?" Sakura abruptly asked. She's sure not many people know that she fled from their so called 'friendship'.

"Lucky guess." He smiled a little before finishing the liquor in his glass.

She might have also guessed correctly that that's not his first glass. Syaoran wouldn't come up to any girl…except if he has enough courage to. "Umm okay." She felt embarrassed. Almost everyone can agree that leaving your friends is not a right thing to do; unless, they deeply discern the escaper's bitter feelings prior to her reason.

Unexpectedly, he stepped closer to her. His left hand slowly lifted from his side and it stopped just in front of Sakura's eye level. His left hand gently rested upon her right cheek and his thumb slowly brushed her right eye's lashes. "…You've been crying."

"N-no, I wasn't!" She immediately denied. She forced her self not to entertain her urge to hold onto his hand and never let it go. She had always liked him the first time she sat across him. She was enthralled by his presence even if Chikao was sitting next to her and they weren't an item then. Now that he is so near to her, and this had never happened before, God knows she wants to hold him but she limits her self and dare not try to push her luck. It is almost torture.

"I know." He admitted. And it's obvious that he was talking about some other thing. "But is it true though?" Doubt had joined his voice.

"T-true, w-what?" She was acting dumb but she doesn't want to assume either.

He weakly smiled. "Never mind." And then he let go of her and stepped away.

Sakura almost screamed in her head. What did she do wrong? Why did he retreat? He was once again beguiling her, why stop now? No one likes a tease!

"Are you going home now?" He took advantage of the silence and the obvious shock in her emerald eyes.

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Author's Notes: **No one likes a cliffy but who can sue writer's block? Sorry, guys.


	4. Fourth Part Last

. - . - . - . - . - . - .

Syaoran would have asked her for a dance that night. Sakura was clearly his type. The only problem is that Syaoran isn't that straightforward Senpai that immediately asks a cute girl 'Do you have a boyfriend?' He is one of those gentle types that mostly lose the girl to the bad guys. In the end, he still needed more to time to be more acquainted with her.

But little did he know that she doesn't have that much time in her.

Sakura aimed to go home after his little encounter with her prince charming. She recalled everything that has been stressing her these past couple of months. She can't go back to her University pretty much because she has been absent for a long time and her mother hates her enough to support her into pursuing her education. She can't work and earn her own money because she has low self confidence these days and to top that off, she has a baby face that any interviewer will surely mistake her for a sixteen year old. She can just state that she's nineteen but in any line of work, who will accept someone who looks so childish?

_Tock. Tock. Tock. _Her heels echoed in the empty lamp-lit streets. She sighed as the image of her former best friends appeared in her head. All these years, she had always thought that she has been so lucky to find such great friends. Yet, when you're down, that's when you'll know who your real friends are. If they were at least a little true as they claim they are, they could have at least tried to search for her when she decided to leave them all. Searching won't be too stressful for them, they practically know where she lives! They didn't visit her, not at least once; and Sakura was so disgusted with her self for having the thought of them to possibly and 'probably' see how she was. Never.

Everything was too much for her. Too much for a little girl who hasn't blossomed yet. She may be nineteen but she is still very childlike at heart and it's even harder when there's completely no one there for her.

* * *

Roses are dying at the side. Waiting is making time run out.

Four days after, Sakura was found with a big bottle of sleeping pills at her side. She was dead when her brother saw her.

And Syaoran was just picking up the freshest flowers he saw in the Flower Shop.

* * *

If only someone had told her that everything will surely be fine.

. - . - . - **End** - . - . - .


	5. Delay: First Part

**Author's Notes: **After getting ideas from one of my favorite songs from Anberlin, I decided to continue this story. I would have put up a new story saying that it's a sequel…but I think it's better if I just put it here so new potential readers won't be too confused with the first posts.

This is sort of a new story. Here's a sequel.

This begins a year after…

* * *

**Delay**

**By: Tammy Super Girl**

"I need a wake up call at ten o'clock tonight." A female voice coming off from the television was heard in the living room. Syaoran, age twenty, tried to continue what he's watching. He's supposed to be scared because a horror flick brings horror…not some other type of emotion, right?

The show continues. The woman in the movie went up to her hotel room. When she arrived beside her bed, she took a white bottle from the counter and drank the approximately thirty pills in it.

Syaoran bolted off from the couch and quickly stepped away from the living room sofa. "What's the matter, honey?" a female voice followed. There was a shoulder-length haired girl seated next to him all this time.

"It's nothing." Syaoran uttered lowly when his right hand fingers found their way on his forehead.

"Are you sure?" The girl stood and approached him.

"I'm fine…" He tried hard to make his voice sound assuring. He patted her back and led her way back to the couch.

The movie continued and showed that the clock stroke ten PM. The telephone in the hotel room rang. No one answered it because the woman was all alone and she is recently asleep on the bed. The telephone continued to ring. After some time, a lot of members of the hotel staff barged in her hotel room. They quickly ran her off to the hospital.

Syaoran once again alarmed in his seat and immediately walked away. He wanted to escape. Flee from the unpleasant things inside of him. He wanted to run away from the living room, from the house, from Hong Kong- the country where he's currently at. "Syaoran, honey, what's wrong?" The girl followed him.

She found him at the veranda leaned on the marble railings while staring at the blue sky. She saw his disturbed bitter face when he left the living room and now all she can see is longing in his eyes. "What's wrong?" She repeated in a calmer tone.

"Nothing. I'm okay, Matsu." He hesitantly looked into her eyes and forced a smile. Matsu was never the forceful type. She didn't quite believe him but she insisted on just letting him be. In their one month of being an item, she had already noticed that he's quite sensitive when it comes to girls committing suicides. He would always act strange and walk away. She never knew why. She had already tried to ask but she never got anything out of him.

"If you want, we can just watch something else." She kindly told him.

"Yeah, that would be good." He took off from his leaning position and found his way back inside the house.

* * *

"It's been a year and I have never gotten over it." Syaoran sadly told Eriol that night. Eriol Hiiragizawa, age twenty one, is Syaoran's blood-distant cousin.

"I think it's normal." Syaoran's cousin said comfortingly. "Death is hard to deal with." They are in his bedroom's balcony. "That girl you met in Japan must've been something."

Syaoran paused for a while and then sighed. "…She is." He drank half of the dark colored transparent liquor in his wine glass. "…We weren't actually that close but she…" he paused to drink again.

"I know. I can tell that she's really special to you." Eriol poured his share of wine in his own glass.

"She was my friend's girlfriend. I don't know why, Eriol, why I'm so affected by it." He stared at his cousin with his eyebrows making a negative angle.

"It's probably because she died." And then he took a sip.

Syaoran smirked. "You know what's the funny part?"

"What?"

"I just came to know a few months ago that she lived." He smiled bitterly.

Eriol's eyes widened. He never knew. "Really? You didn't tell me that!"

"I thought it was not a big deal…since I'm with Matsu now." He refilled his glass and drank all of its contents straight. "Not everyone knew she was alive." Syaoran lifted his right hand and it stopped eight inches in front of his face, just a little below his chin. "She hid from everyone for one, two-" two if his right hand fingers are now sticking up from his fist, "-three, four, five months. For five months she hid from everybody, FROM ME!" He paused for a bit. "At that fourth month, I returned here in Hong Kong and two months after, at the sixth month, that's where I got the news that she's alive all along." He crossed his eyebrows and shook his head. "So if this is only because of her death, I should be over it by now…because I've known that for six months now…!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eriol let out a heartfelt chuckle.

Syaoran's left eyebrow raised. "What's so funny?"

"Syaoran, before, you were that shy guy who every girl wants to run after. Now, you're all paranoid, noisy and crazy!" And then he laughed again.

"Yeah well…" Syaoran finally smiled a little. "I guess I've changed this past year."

"Stop worrying, she's alive, you don't need to be guilty about anything anymore."

"…Guilt?"

"Mhm." Eriol poured liquor in Syaoran's glass until it was full. "Now drink up."

0

Two hours after, Syaoran was found alone in his bed. He may have finished quite a number of wine bottles with Eriol, but he's still wide awake. "…Guilt?" He can't get over it. "I was told before that she claimed that I was the only one who can take her out of her loneliness." He shook his head.

Syaoran stared into the dimness of his bedroom. "I still ask the same question I asked before- why me?" He paused for a while and then he ended up scratching his head hard. "I was never too sure if she really meant it…but when I was ready to finally confront it, I was too late."

He closed his eyes, rolled to his left side and whispered "Good thing you got resuscitated…Sakura."

* * *

Another year after…

"Call me to let me know what time I'll be picking you up..!" A boy in his early twenties cheerfully exclaimed through the open car window. He has stylish Japanese black hair that ends below his ears.

"Thanks Yasuo! I'll call you later then!" Sakura, age twenty one, waved goodbye to the black haired boy and ran up to the stone stairs leading to her University building.

Sakura is now in her senior year in her new University. She has long and straight auburn hair that went well with her light and fair complexion. She is happy nowadays and it seems that the entire dilemma from two years ago doesn't matter anymore.

"Hi Sakura!" a girl with long purplish gray hair greeted her by the entrance.

"Hey Tomoyo!" She was so happy to see her. "What are you doing here in College?"

"Oh, I'm just fixing a couple of this and that. I might have the need to show them at work." The girl responded kindly.

"It's so nice to be finally working, huh?"

"Sure does!" Tomoyo gave her a heartfelt smile. "Well, I have to go now. And you do too, you don't want to be late."

"I know! I'll see you later, bye!" After giving her female friend a kiss on her cheek, Sakura waved goodbye and aimed to run off to class.

"OH HEY, Sakura?" Tomoyo turned her heel to face the auburn haired girl again.

"Yes, Tomoyo?" She also turned to face the one who called her.

"I don't mean to be nosey but I saw a guy drive you to school this morning. Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Oh you mean Yasuo!" Sakura smiled in glee. "He's my big brother's apprentice at their office. He's only a year older than me so we get along well. That's all."

"Really?" Tomoyo teased.

"Yes, really…" Sakura pouted densely. "What's up?" She was unsure in her tone.

"Oh nothing." Tomoyo cooed and skipped off. "I gotta go, bye!"

"Bye..!" Sakura weakly waved at that. She was disturbed with what Tomoyo was trying to tell her.

* * *

"So nice of you to come!" Tomoyo happily exclaimed when Sakura sat on her car's passenger seat the next night.

"Well, you did invite me yesterday so I made sure not to make any plans today!" Sakura responded. Tomoyo was just picking Sakura up in her house.

"Good, good!" Tomoyo stepped on the gas and they were off. "I'm really looking forward for this party to be a success."

"I'm sure it's gonna be great. You've been organizing this for the entire week, yes?"

"Thanks Sakura." Tomoyo smiled more at that.

After an hour, they finally arrived at the resort and there were already parked cars at the reserved parking area. "They're already here!" Tomoyo squealed as she parks the car at her reserved parking space. "I'm so excited!"

"Yes, all my senpais are here." Sakura calmly said and then she stepped off the car when it was finally parked. "Hey Tomoyo, I'm just going to the girl's room first."

"Oh… You want me to accompany you?" It's a girl code that when one girl is going to the wash room, all the girls are supposed to come along.

"No, it's fine. I'm sure you have some preparations to do." She smiled considerately.

"You're right. Just make sure to follow soon, okay?" She began to walk off with a wave.

"I will." Sakura assured her and then she was on her own.

It took Sakura half an hour in the wash room. When she was finally done, she felt sorry for her self for having to take longer than expected. She sure wanted to help Tomoyo with her preparations for this party.

She hurried to where the commotion is; only to hear something on her halfway there. "WEEEELCOOOOME BAAAACK!" Everybody was in a chorus, greeting the return of a certain friend. She assumed that the surprise had begun without her so she decided to run faster.

"WEELCOOME BAACK ERIOOL!" Sakura managed to join in the second chorus. She was very happy to say it out loud even though she does not know who this Eriol is.

"Thanks everyone!" The Eriol guy, a tall person with navy blue hair that had rectangle glasses over his blue eyes, responded in gratitude. "This must be Tomoyo's doing, huh?" Sakura watched the man search for Tomoyo within the crowd.

"Hey Eriol, is this her?" A man an inch shorter than Eriol showed up at the center. He was patting Tomoyo's back when he took everyone's attention.

"Yes, there's my lady." Eriol walked over to Tomoyo and gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "Thank you." The people nearest to them heard him whisper. Tomoyo just stood there, giggling in response. "Nice to see you all again, everybody." Eriol now shifted his focus upon the crowd.

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. She was within the crowd, staring blankly ahead to that one man who was standing next to Eriol.

Eriol continued. "I brought my cousin with me. Everyone, this is-"

She whispered his name to her self. "…Syaoran Li."

**To be continued…**

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**Author's Notes: **I was running out of creative juice so I had to stop there for now. Reviews?


	6. D: Second Part

**Author's Notes: **Now I feel guilty for updating too soon. Why? Cuz I have another story hanging. True that (good news to some of my readers) I've began the next chapter but I only have the first two pages (Microsoft Word) of it. And unlike in this story, I stop when I run out of things to think of and then I put up whatever I've finished. In that other story, I've set my own standards before putting it up.

Oh well…

Let's not put my willingness-to-write-atm go to waste.

* * *

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hello?" Syaoran, age twenty one, was seated on a wooden chair in a cottage wearing only his black board shorts that ends below his knees. In his right hand, he was holding up his cell phone upon his right ear. And there was a glass of liquor clutched within his left hand. "Yes, I'm here at Eriol's surprise party now." He uttered while he took a glance of Tomoyo who was seated across him beyond the glass coffee table. "Right, I'll call you later, Matsu." And then he hanged up.

It was nice to hear his girlfriend's voice again. She's way back in Hong Kong, working on her family's printing business, while Syaoran's back in Japan, just chilling with his cousin and potential new friends.

True that Eriol and Syaoran may have graduated college in Japan but they went to different Universities. And at the moment, Syaoran's tugging along in Eriol's College reunion.

"It's amazing that you reserved the entire resort for this." Eriol, in his naked top and navy blue board shorts, uttered towards Tomoyo's direction and motioned for a toast.

Tomoyo, in a floral one piece bathing suit and a baby blue robe, happily lifted her glass of liquor to join in the cheers. "I could've just used one of the Daidouji's places but it wouldn't be much of a surprise if that were the case."

"True, true…" Eriol nodded and the three of them drank the entire contents in their glasses.

'TUG' Syaoran placed his glass on the table and his head turned sideways to the left; towards the cottage's open entrance's direction. "Maybe you'd like to talk to her, Syao." Eriol calmly stated when he noticed that he was looking directly at the people in the swimming pool.

"Maybe later." Syaoran's eyebrows crossed a bit as his amber eyes pierced through the swimming crowd. "I don't want to interrupt her while she's having fun. And I like her to have fun."

"I can tell she's been looking forward into catching up with you." Eriol poured wine on everyone's glasses. "I saw her staring at you a while ago."

"What if she hates me?" Syaoran's gaze landed back on Eriol's.

"We'll never know, won't we?" Tomoyo spoke up with her amethyst eyes sparkling. She's excited about knowing that Syaoran and Sakura have something between them.

"She's right." Eriol smiled in victory.

"…Fine." Syaoran stood from his seat and walked out of the cottage.

It didn't take him too long to be able to approach the pool.

All in the pool, Sakura had her head resting on Chiharu's left shoulder. "Hey Yamazaki, let me have a ride on your back!" Chiharu, the girl with brown pigtails, mentioned. She slowly swam away from Sakura and neared Yamazaki.

Sakura calmly watched the Chiharu-Yamazaki couple and giggled at their sweetness.

"Sakura, can I have a moment, please?" Syaoran's voice was very gentle and it weren't too loud but it seems almost everyone heard him. Sakura glanced up to him, her jaw dropping a bit while she's at it. She didn't say a word. She just got out of the pool and eventually found her way standing next to him.

Everyone in the pool tried not to watch them. Syaoran nodded at her, motioning for her to follow him.

He led her to what seemed to be a tennis court. There were no lights turned on because no one else was there and obviously, no one was playing tennis. Helping Sakura climb the stairs, they settled themselves at the audience seats. They sat next to each other, like what they could have been doing all along.

"Back in Japan, I see." Sakura spoke up first. She stared into the dim tennis court.

"Yeah, not for a long time though." He replied plainly. "Eriol doesn't have to go back to Hong Kong, but I do."

"On your way back here, did you get my real live panda?" She teased while a smile crept to her lips.

"Yes." He replied sentimentally. "But they said I can't bring it to the plane because it's an endangered animal." He teased back.

"No fair." She pouted.

Not everyone knows about the source of this conversation. The only people who knew, and they have probably forgot it by now, are Sakura and Syaoran's old college friends. It was a time in one of Tokyo's bars, where Chikao Yamada, Sakura's ex-boyfriend, brought her to hang out with his friends. Syaoran was one of the said friends. It was two days before Syaoran and his block mates are going to a seminar in Hong Kong. Sakura playfully asked the amber eyed handsome to bring her back a panda. Even if, at that time, Sakura's boyfriend was seated next to her, Syaoran played along and agreed to get her an animal for a present.

"I'm sorry for bringing this up but I wanna know…how it…happened." Syaoran sat frozen in his seat. He can't believe he just brought him self to confront her about it. And he's pretty sure she knows what he's talking about.

Sakura tried to relax on her seat. "I haven't thought of it for so long…but I guess you have to know." She forced a smile and continued to stare into the dim court. "Quickly after my brother found me on my bed and motionless, he ran me to the hospital. And with the little information I heard from them, they said they made me vomit at the hospital…to take out all the sleeping pills." She frowned. "Then that's that!" And forced a smile again.

"Guess you weren't really…-you know-…dead…when he found you." He said uncomfortably.

"I wasn't happy when my eyes saw daylight again." She shook her head a little. "But now, I'm happy they saved me. Everything from two years ago turned upside down. I guess all I needed was new people to be around with…to be able to start anew."

"Is that why you hid from…from everyone?" Syaoran wanted to blurt out that she especially hid from him.

"That's one reason. I didn't tell you because I was too embarrassed…and I thought it'd be better if everyone just thought that I was really dead."

Syaoran annoyingly shook his head. He didn't like what she did; or what he heard. "Let's go back." He said coldly. He took her hand, squeezed it tight, and led her out of the audience's seats.

* * *

"How did it go?" Eriol calmly asked when Syaoran was back at the table. He didn't speak or even took a glance of Eriol. He retrieved his glass, placed it hard in front of him and filled it with liquor and immediately drank it all up.

"I'm betting on 'it didn't go well'." Tomoyo whispered to Eriol who nodded in response.

"I'm sorry." Syaoran forced a smile to be shown to the couple. "It was fine, really." And then he aimed to put more liquor in his glass.

"Really now? Then can we ask Sakura to join us?" Eriol was trying to provoke his cousin.

"Go ahead."

Tomoyo hopped out from the cottage and invited Sakura to join them. Rika, the girl with short wavy black hair, joined as well.

Three hours had passed and everyone in the resort is now drinking. They all have their own groups. Some drink in the other cottages, some by the pool, and the five are in the same cottage…and they're getting drunk.

**To be continued…**


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